Last Monday my bike and I went in to be professionally fitted to see what could be done to fix my nerve problem. Turns out I was riding “too short.” I was also told that I was pushing forward when pedaling and using my calves and ankles too much rather than pushing through with my quads. My seat was moved forward about an inch (which is a lot) and a longer stem now replaces my old one. So my body is now siting directly over my feet instead of being slightly behind them and my core is more extended. My current handlebars are also 2 sizes too wide, which explains the tension in my upper shoulder blades, as my shoulders measure 34” wide and the handlebars are 40”. New tape is also going to be applied and it has an extra gel layer inside of it. Because my new handlebars are a bit shorter than a standard size, the tape will be wrapped thicker near where the placement of my hands will be and taper out towards the ends to provide even more padding. I was sent home that day with my bike to test ride the two major adjustments to my core while the handlebars were being ordered.
At only mile 18 my left hand went numb again, but this time it was a bit different. Instead of the fourth and fifth fingers being affected it was my whole hand, but it only lasted a few minutes and it didn’t happen again for the rest of the ride. I really tried to focus on what muscles I was using to propel myself and I found that the more I used my quads the faster I would go, and with less effort - what do ya know? But it was easy to revert back to my old pedaling habit because my mind would naturally drift to other things or I’d have to search for a good spot to pee for the umteenth time. I swear, I have a bladder the size of a blueberry and I really do have to pee about every thirty minutes, I timed it. Sometimes less. This is all the time, not just when I’m riding my bike by the way. However I’ve gotten pretty good at designating well-hidden roadside pee spots, but I don’t even want to know how many random drivers by have seen my va-jayjay. It’s unfortunate though when riding through a heavily populated neighborhood. You can’t just pee in someone’s well-groomed bushes next to their mailbox, behind the air conditioner on the side of their house, in the middle of their front yard in a low-lying pine, or in the shade of their wooden fence (as if the shade makes you invisible (it doesn’t)). So you ride, clenched, fanatically searching for any kind of public establishment with a bathroom. Finally you find a place, but then you have to lock up your bike! Doubled over and about to explode, you stumble with your lock during those waves of intense pee sensations and do the potty dance on your tip toes like a drunk ballerina all the way to the toilet. I bet that’s funny to witness. Unfortunately I’ve always been the star of those episodes.
Today I was supposed to go pick up my finished bike but I instead got a phone call from the bike shop concerning my gears. I had mentioned on Monday that my gears were shifting funny, and they assured me it was simply due to a dirty chain and that with a good cleaning the shifter would be happier. But upon further investigation my shifter was actually skipping gears. For every one click, it would shift two or three, which is particularly hazardous and annoying when going up a steep climb and your feet lurch out of the straps because your gears decide to shift down 3 for no reason. So there are two solutions; switch it to friction shifting, which means there wouldn’t be any more “clicks” and you’d have to shift gears based on feel, or get new shifters altogether. The new shifters are of better quality than my current setup and they come complete with new cables and guides which is great because mine are a bit rusted. Plus, with new shifters I’ll be able to switch to the friction setting as a backup plan out on the road if the shifting mechanism fails again. Since I’ll be totally on my own this time I figure it’s worth the hundred bucks.
When I get back on my bike tomorrow it will be like new, and I’m so excited! It really needed to be adjusted and have a proper tune up so with this checked off my to-do list I feel a lot better about this trip.
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